Pick up the pieces
by nooneNoone
Summary: Higher ground Crossover. A story about troubled teens dealing with their pasts. Quinn and Rachel just happen to arrive at the same time at Mount Horizon. Can love heal a broken person? (I own nothing and no one unfortunately)
1. Chapter 1

Higher ground Crossover. A story about troubled teens dealing with their pasts. Quinn and Rachel just happen to arrive at the same time at Mount Horizon. (I own nothing and no one unfortunately)

**_"Sometimes, as we're stumbling along in the dark, we hit something good"_**

_By Susan Ee, Angelfall_

Scott Barringer is staring at his graduation picture with the 'Cliffhangers' after finishing the call with the police.

"Who was that?" Shelby asks as she enters the room.

"The police, they busted a brothel and found a 16 year old girl, all bruised up and cuffed to a bed, they asked if we are going to take her in or let the police handle it."

Shelby lets out a laugh and says :" Did we ever let the police handle anything?"

Scott gets up from his chair and walks up to Shelby hugging her from behind and whispers :"No, and we are not about to start." Shelby leans back in his arms and asks :" So we are getting two new girls today?"

"Yeah, the first should arrive any minute with her fathers."

"Good, then let's go meet them" suggests Shelby before turning around in his arms and pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.

* * *

"I don't want to be here" pleads Rachel with her fathers sitting in the back of their car.

"Rachel you lost control, we don't know how to help you."

Rachel leans forward and grits her teeth :"I don't need help."

"How can you still say that?" Leroy asks her angrily.

Rachel lets out a deep breath and sits back.

"Here they come" announces Hiram looking at the councilor's walking towards them. They get out of the car and look at Rachel not moving and decide to let her have a moment to herself.

"Mister Berry?" asks Scott as he offers his hand. Hiram shakes his hand and says :"Call me Hiram, we are both Mister Berry, it's confusing." Shelby offers him a smile as Scott introduces them :" I'm Scott Barringer and this is Shelby Merrick, she takes care of the Cliffhangers the group your daughter will be joining."

"Cliffhangers, sounds delightful" says Rachel with an exaggerated eye roll as she gets out of the car.

"Give it a chance, it might surprise you" remarked Shelby with a wink.

Scott smiles, remembering his first day here and how angry he was, he shakes his head and then says :" Shelby will give you a tour, while I explain a few things to your fathers."

Rachel nods, not looking at any of them instead just scanning the area.

As her fathers walk away, Rachel can't help but notice how relieved they look, like everything is solved because they are getting rid of her, she can't help but feel hurt, even knowing all the things she did in the last couple of months, she was still hoping they loved her. Now she knows she is just a problem they needed solved.

She tries to swallow the hurt and ignore the tears, just like she has been doing for the past 7 months. When her eyes focus on Shelby again, she realizes that she was watching her this whole time.

"What?" she spits angrily.

"Nothing, you ready for the tour?"

"Sure, it's not like I have any place else to be."

Shelby smirks for a moment seeing her old self in Rachel, before remembering what it's like to be her and then begins the tour, explaining and showing her everything. At last they arrive in Rachel's new room.

"This is your bed, you have enough closet space and two roommates, who are also in the Cliffhangers. Ashley Davis and Jade West. Another girl will be joining you soon too."

Rachel looks around in the rather large room and then states :"It's like a buffet for lesbians."

Shelby crooks an eyebrow and asks :"Is this your coming out?"

Rachel doesn't really look at her when she answers :" Labels are for idiots, I like what I like." Shelby bobs her head and smiles :"Here it doesn't matter what or who you like, rules are the same, no sex, no drugs, no inappropriate touching, no violence."

"Yeah yeah whatever."

Shelby shakes her head amused and leaves Rachel to take everything in. Rachel watches her leave and then sits down on her new bed and looks at the floor, realizing there is nowhere to run anymore, nowhere to hide from her memories, no more hope. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, his face flashes in front of her eyes and she can already feel the tears building. She hasn't cried in a while, so she lays back and just lets it all out.

Shelby who is waiting for her outside, looks through the window and sees her laying on her bed, trying to muffle her sobs with her hands. She swallows hard, knowing this picture from memory, but knowing that if she walks in now it wouldn't do any good. So she waits.

An hour later, Rachel and Shelby walk back to the office just as her fathers are leaving. Shelby gives the men a small smile and then takes Scotts hand and gives them some space to say goodbye.

Hiram steps forward to hug Rachel but she takes a step back.

She shakes her head and yells angrily :"You think you can just bring me here to get rid of me and then we will hug goodbye like a fucking happy family."

Hiram starts crying, so Leroy puts his hand on his shoulder and pushes him towards the car. Hiram obligates and then Leroy turns towards his daughter and with a stern cold voice :"We were a happy family, **_you _**changed the game and now you are mad at us for asking for help? You make it really easy on yourself." With one more shake of his head, he gets into the car and drives away.

Rachel dropped her eyes to the floor as soon as her Dad started talking but now after he left, she can't get herself to look up again. She did it, she made everyone hate her and now she is all alone.

She sees someone walking towards her out of the corner of her eye so she takes a step back and asks :"Is it okay to go to my room or do I need a supervisor with me at all times?"

Shelby lifts her hands as if to surrender and says :"Go ahead."

Rachel walks fast towards her room and Shelby steps back towards Scott and asks :" So what's her story?" Scotts sad eyes follow Rachel and then he looks at Shelby and shakes his head. That's all Shelby needs to know that it's bad, they walk into his office so he can tell her.

Rachel arrives in her room and throws herself head first into her pillow, as she starts to cry for the second time that day, she hears a door open and close.

"Oh another lost soul."

"Welcome to Mount Horizon, where they don't want you to mount anyone."

"Wow that was lame."

" I try."

Rachel doesn't bother looking up, she doesn't care about her new roommates, she doesn't care about making new friends, not since him. She knows what happens when you form attachments to people, she knows and she is not making that mistake again.

* * *

Back in Scotts office, Shelby sits at the table shocked bobbing her head, trying to wrap her head around it.

"She is fragile, she is going to need a lot of attention." Scott says sighing and looking intently at Shelby, who nods her understanding.

They look at each other for a moment and then they hear a car park outside, one look out the window tells them it's the police to bring them their newest resident.

They walk outside, their hands grazing for a moment, taking comfort in that small touch. They watch the blonde take it all in and Scott shakes his head, she is beautiful, bruised but still one of the prettiest girls he has ever seen.

"This is Quinn Fabray, she doesn't talk much and now she is yours to figure out." Says one of the police officers and gets back into the car.

"Northwestern finest, always so useful." States Shelby spiteful.

The corner of Quinn's lips curls up for a second but just as fast, it's gone again.

"Come on, I'll show you your room." Shelby says and waits for Quinn to follow her.

When they get to the room, Ashley and Jade are doing homework and Rachel seems asleep.

"Girls this is Quinn, Quinn these are your roommates – pointing at each of them – This is Ashley, that's Jade and this butt belongs to Rachel, who also arrived today."

Quinn seems to be shrinking in on herself as she takes them all in. She watches as Shelby points out her new bed and tells her she will see her later for dinner.

Quinn sit downs and feels panic building inside her. She knows what will happen when he finds her, she knows what he will do to her. He must think she ratted him out, but she didn't! She would never do that, he's the only one that cares about her, the only one who has ever made her feel safe, and now he must think she betrayed him. He must be so angry at her. Quinn shrinks because she knows what will happen when he finds her. There will be no mercy. She sighs and walks towards the bathroom, needing a shower for the second time that day.

In the shower she touches her bruises and reminds herself, that he didn't mean that, he was angry because they didn't pay him enough, he didn't mean to hurt her, he was just not thinking clearly.

After she finishes showering she looks at herself in the mirror for a little while, trying to see if she could make him any money, looking like this but then she remembers he probably won't want her anymore after all of this. She looks herself in the eyes and for a moment she is relieved, just for a small moment, she sees herself 10 years ago, where she didn't have a care in the world. She swallows hard and tries not to think about that.

She walks out just as some guy with a Mohawk sits down in the middle of the room holding a white box up.

"Oh, now there is someone pretty. Hi, I'm Noah." He introduces himself with a friendly smile. She smiles back but backs away from him a bit and doesn't answer.

So Ashley answers in her behalf :"That's Quinn, she arrived today." She walks to Rachel's bed and smacks her on the ass. Rachel shoots up startled and asks "What the fuck?"

"Do you like cheesecake?"

"Cheesecake?"

Noah laughs and holds up the box :"Yeah you know a cake made of cheese? I stole it from the kitchen, don't tell."

As Ashley, Jade and Noah sit around the box, Rachel's eyes travel to the other new girl and she can't help but think that she is gorgeous, even with bruises in her face, gorgeous. The girl holds her gaze for a moment and then swallows hard as she sits down and joins the circle.

"So do you want some or not?" asks Jade in an annoyed voice.

Rachel gets up and sits down next to her, taking a fork and trying the cheesecake, she unexpectedly moans.

Noah laughs and says :" Told you."

He didn't but that's not the point, she doesn't remember ever eating such a good cheesecake.


	2. Chapter 2

"Life is too short to spend it at war with yourself."

— unknown

Rachel was jolted awake by a small cry, her eyes snap open and for a moment she was startled because she didn't recognize her surroundings, but then the day before came back and she realized it must be one of the other girls that woke her.

She looks to her right and sees the other new girl, Quinn, holding her pillow tightly, her eyes squeezed shut and crying. For a moment Rachel isn't sure if she is awake or not, but as her muffled sobs continue she realized that the girl is having a nightmare.

She sits up and leans towards her and shakes her shoulders a bit :"Hey, hey wake up, it's just a dream."

"Please don't." Quinn's desperate plea saddens Rachel for some reason.

She shakes her harder and whispers a little louder this time :" It's just a dream, wake up." This time she watches Quinn's frightened eyes open and her gaze focus on her.

She recoils from Rachel's touch and scoots back on the bed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you but you seemed to be having a nightmare." Whispers Rachel slowly and watches Quinn nod in acknowledgment.

"You really don't talk a lot, huh?" Rachel asks with a small smile. When Quinn doesn't answer, she nods in understanding and gets back under her blankets.

For a few moments it's dead quiet in their room and then Rachel hears the quietest and sweetest "Thank you". She smiles and turns to her side, realizing that this is the first night in months that she fell asleep without something in her system and she feels relieved, for a tiny second, relieved that she can't destroy her body anymore like that.

* * *

At 7 am on the minute an alarm wakes them all and Rachel sits up and frowns at whoever set the stupid alarm. Ashley turns it off and walks to the bathroom first, while Jade starts getting dressed.

Quinn looks around confused, it takes her a moment to realize that they have class now and another moment to realize that she doesn't have any clean clothes, but then she glances at the closet and sees a pair of Jeans and a t-shirt. She walks over and reads the small note on them.

" I hope they fit for today. We will find you some more clothes. Shelby." Quinn shakes her head and smiles a little, not understanding why these people are being so nice to her. She looks at the girl who woke her from her nightmare, who seems to have fallen asleep while leaning her head against her knees and she can't help but smile at the sight.

She starts undressing but recoils at a crash coming from the bathroom that also wakes Rachel up.

They hear a laugh and then a yelled :"All is good, I'm alive."

She turns back towards the clothes and sees that Rachel is staring at her underwear clothed body, she knows how the bruises look, having stared at them in the mirror yesterday and she puts on her clothes as fast as she can, which seems to snap Rachel out of her haze.

As Rachel averts her eyes, she swallows hard, never having seen anyone that bruised, she is not sure why, it's not like she cares about this stranger, but she hopes that this girl had a medical exam taken.

An hour later when they are all seated in their classroom, Rachel realizes that she unconsciously sat down next to Quinn, who is shrinking in on herself and looks frightened and ready to run. She doesn't know why but something inside her stirs and pushes her to talk to her but she ignores it. Trying to remind herself that she promised her heart never to get close to anyone again.

"Good morning, kids. I see we have a few new faces here. My name is Daisy Lipenowski and I'm your English teacher." She watches the kids barely nod in acknowledgment and decides to explain a few things to the new faces. "I'm your teacher, I'm also a counselor and a former student. Horizon has been my home for 13 years and I hope it will do you as much good as it did me."

Rachel rolls her eyes at that and scoffs.

"Is there anything you would like to add..?" Daisy asks trailing off, because she doesn't know the girl's name.

"Rachel. No, I just find it ridiculous to assume, that our parents forcing us to be here will do us any good, but hey you are the "Counselor"."

Daisy opens her mouth a couple of times and closes it again, a bit offended at the quotation marks on the counselor. She decides to approach carefully :" Your parents forced you to be here?"

"Of course. Why else would I be here?"

"So they walked you here, handcuffed you to one of the councilors and left?"  
Rachel's brow furrow at that :"What? No."

"So it was your decision, to take this chance and not run away last night, which you could have done. It was your decision to come to class because nobody pulled you in by your hair. Am I right?"

Rachel shrinks back when she understands what Daisy is getting at and doesn't say another word.

"That's what I thought." Daisy states in amusement and then continues with her class, knowing how her words might have been interpreted.

Quinn smiles, she is free to go, nobody can force her to stay here, she doesn't have to be here if she doesn't want to and she really just wants to get back home, to get back to him and ask for forgiveness. She sighs relieved and plans on how to get home the fastest way. Imagining his face when she enters the house again and how relieved he will look that she is safe, back in his protection.

Quinn decides to stay for all of the classes and not be rude and just disappear. After the last class finishes she walks back to her room, drops her books there and says goodbye to her new roommates, who exchange confused looks as Quinn leaves the room again and starts walking towards the exit of the school grounds.

Shelby is just looking for something in the car when she sees Quinn walk confidently towards the exit, she gets out quickly and jogs up to her.

"And where do you think you are going?"

Quinn startled by her sudden presence, recoils a little bit but doesn't stop walking.

"I don't have to be here." She says in a quiet voice.

"You don't?"

"The counselor said nobody forced me to be here so I don't have to be here."

Shelby nods deciding on kicking Daisy later and says :"It's a long walk to the next bus station how about I drop you off?"

Quinn stops and thinks about that for a second, she looks Shelby in the eyes and sees nothing but kindness and worry in them. So she nods and follows Shelby to the car.

As they sit down in the car, Shelby glances to the right and sees Rachel stand outside their room looking at them curiously. Shelby looks away as not to be spotted but smiles and thinks maybe those two can help each other out. Maybe Rachel can be for Quinn what Daisy was for Shelby.

"So where are you going to go with the bus?"

Quinn looks away, knowing she shouldn't answer but her silence is answer enough.

"I would have pegged you for smarter." Quinn's sharp gaze cuts to her.

"You don't understand." She murmurss quietly.

"No, sweetie you don't understand. The police finds you there a second time, you won't be shipped off to us, where you are safe and can live a normal life. No. If the police finds you there again, you are going straight to juvie."

Quinn stares at her angrily for a moment before dropping her gaze, she just wants to go home. She then questions :"Why are you driving me to the bus station then?"

"Because you are right, nobody can force you to want a better life and future for yourself. Nobody but you can save you."

Quinn looks at her for another moment and then stares at the street. He would be so angry if he finds out she had a chance to come back but didn't. She just has to go back to him, everything will be alright after that. He can save her.

She looks up when the car comes to a stop and looks at the bus station, the empty bus station. Quinn swallows hard and unbuckles her seatbelt but doesn't move more than that.

"13 years ago, I took the wrong exit, I hope you don't make the same mistake." Shelby says in a small voice. Quinn can't look at her, she knows if she looks at her she will see the fear in her eyes and he always said "Don't let them see you are scared, they will eat you alive." Quinn gets out of the car slowly and whispers :" Thank you."

Shelby shakes her head but tries one more time :" I'm going to sit here, to make sure you got on that bus, if you change your mind, nobody will hold it against you." She watches Quinn hesitate but then she closes the door. Shelby just hopes the bus doesn't come anytime soon.

Quinn sits down on the bench by the station and looks at Shelby sitting in the car staring at the her side mirror, probably to see if the bus is coming. Quinn can't help but wonder what makes Shelby care so much, what makes her think there is a future for her. Even her own father didn't believe that there is a future for her, why would a stranger believe that.

For a moment Rachel's face when she woke her from her nightmare flashes in front of her eyes, another stranger caring enough to wake her because she was crying. She wonders what Rachel's story is, why she there is and what she is going to think of Quinn running away. She chuckles after a moment, why would she care what two strangers thought of her.

She doesn't know them. Why would she care about disappointing them?

She looks back at Shelby and sees her sit up straighter, one look in the same direction tells her the bus is coming and part of her is relieved, she can go home, the other part is screaming and crying for a chance to be heard.

She looks Shelby in the eyes for a moment and then the bus parks in front of her.

Shelby hits her hand against the stirring wheel and she yells angrily :"FUCK! God fucking damn it! fucking shit fuck hell!"

She thinks back to Peter's words :"We can't save them all and you tried your hardest, it's the best any of us can do." She leans her head against her window as she watches the bus drive away and then her jaw hits the floor in disbelief, Quinn is still sitting on that bench. Shelby immediately feels relief washing over her at that sight but collects herself and gets out of the car and sits down next to her.

She sees tears drip down Quinn's cheek, so she doesn't say anything for a few moments and then she says :" I heard there is cheesecake as dessert for lunch today and you should know, the cheesecakes we order are freaking fantastic."

Quinn smiles but can't get herself to look up again, so she watches from the corner of her eye as Shelby gets up and holds out a hand for her, she looks up at her and Shelby is giving her a small encouraging smile, so she takes her hand and gets up.

* * *

Ashley, Jade and Rachel are sitting at the lunch table, but Rachel doesn't seem interested in her food, she keeps looking at the entrance, wondering where Quinn is and ignoring that nagging voice asking her why she cares. She doesn't even know why she cares.

"Jade, eat. You know Scott will come here and give you the double portion of your food if you eat like that."

Rachel looks between them confused and then takes a closer look at Jade's body and realizes how thin the girl actually is and asks "Anorexic?"

"I prefer to call it struggling Anorexic, but you know unless it's drugs or alcohol society doesn't really see it as a problem." Jade explains taking a bite of her chicken. Rachel nods along and then watches Quinn enter the dining area and she lets out a small breath, for some reason happy to see the blonde beauty.

As Quinn takes her food and joins their table everyone is looking at her expectantly but she doesn't say a word.

"Will it ever speak?" Jade asks in a funny voice and again everyone looks at Quinn for an answer, so Quinn smiles and says :" The chicken is delicious." Rachel smiles at her and watches Quinn return her smile before focusing on her food again.

Shelby who was standing at the door and watched the exchange, smiles and releases a deep breath.

"Interesting day?" Scott asks as he appears next to her.

She smiles up at him and says :" Yeah you know those damn newbies and their running away." Scott laughs and blushes :"Shut up." She laughs at him and he puts an arm around her as they watch the girls fall into a conversation.


	3. Chapter 3

_"I show my demons, hoping that you won't one day use them against me."_ - _Haiku on Utter Faith _

The cliffhangers were in one of the classrooms having "Group", which means they were sitting in chairs forming a circle and sharing their stories. Rachel was watching Noah struggle to find the right words, she's been listening to him for 5 minutes and still doesn't know what kind of problems he exactly had, apparently he doesn't really know it himself. She studied Shelby's concerned look and wondered how some people can care about everyone and anyone just like that.

It's not like she knew any of them, or like her life will be altered if they can't fix one of them, so why did she give a rats-ass. She took a close look at Shelby, she was a beautiful blonde, about as "tall" as Rachel was, she had a friendly smile and deep concerned eyes. She was probably between 25 and 30 years old, Rachel couldn't really tell.

She wondered why Shelby chose to work there after she graduated. Maybe it's because of Scott, who is a pretty good looking guy, tall, athletic, dark blonde and even in his late 20's kind of boyish looking. Yet she still found him more attractive than the three boys in her group.

Noah Puckerman had a Mohawk, which is a turn off right away, he had a cute face, a nice body, he was tall but not taller than Scott. He had this weird dirty smile that he used when he was flirty, but his eyes seem very sad.

Then there was Sean Miller, he was a tall but kind of skinny African American boy, with very expressive eyes. Sean kind of has a little bit of beard and the eldest of the group by a year. Sean's story was kind of unexpected, a car accident years ago made him instantly addicted to painkillers. He was 13 and still struggles with his addiction.

Beck Oliver is the third guy in her group. He is pretty cute and even though he has a natural tan, it's obvious that he is living unhealthy. If Rachel had to guess she'd say heroine. He has longer hair than the other boys, it almost reaches his shoulders and it's messy but that's kind of sexy.

Noah finally gathered his thoughts:" I thought if I am always aggressive and scared everyone then nobody would be able to come too close, and it wouldn't hurt so much when they ended up abandoning me. Then he showed up again, my father. After ten years he shows up, not even saying he is sorry, just bringing his other son to my school and …and I lost it. I beat the shit out of him and that's why I'm here. My mom couldn't handle my behavior anymore and told me to come home when I can deal with my shit normally." He nods with a faraway look in his eyes and then shakes his head and looks into his lap.

"That was very good Noah, a few months ago, you wouldn't have been able to say any of this out loud. I'm proud of you." Shelby states as she touches his shoulder, he looks up and gives her a small smile.

"Who wants to share next?" Shelby asks looking around :" How about you Rachel?"

Rachel scoffs, she so knew it, and answers :" No, thanks." Shelby smirks but doesn't say anything.

"Can I say something?" asks Jade in a soft voice.

"Yes, go ahead."

"I woke up today and the first thing I thought was, today we have mac and cheese." She smiles as the group laughs " I know it's not really anything, but I spend the last year not wanting to eat and not even enjoying the little things I ate that waking up and thinking about food seems just so big to me."

"It is big." Ashley says with a proud smile.

"Hell yeah." Hollers Sean and reaches out to high five Jade, who laughs and high fives him.

"Wow, that was beautiful, do we sing now and hold hands?" Rachel asks in a mocking voice.

"From what I know that used to be your forte, so why don't you." Shelby replies and watches Rachel's eyebrows shoot up.

Rachel didn't expect her to know that, she hates her fathers for telling her that and looks away, seething on the inside.

Shelby watches Rachel for another moment and then says :"I guess that's it for today, I hope you are all prepared for tomorrow's X- challenge race."

Rachel rolls her eyes and leaves the classroom first only to be stopped by Sean's hand on her arm.

"Rolling your eyes and scoffing won't make your problems go away, it will just make you seem like a bitch."

Rachel smirks at him and then pushes his arm off :"If I wanted a junky's opinion, I would have asked, but since I don't, kindly keep your advice and your misogynistic insults to yourself."

She walks out angry and decides to just go for a walk, not ready to deal with her roommates, she walks straight ahead until she gets to the forest and then tries to find the lake that they practiced kayaking in.

When she gets there, she sits down and just breathes in the fresh air. She is not exactly sure how much time has passed when Scott shows up and sits down next to her.

"I don't really want to talk right now." Rachel says without looking at him.

Scott looks at her for a long moment and then looks back at the lake and says :" Then we will just sit here in silence."

Rachel will never admit that she feels relieved that he didn't get up and leave right away.

After a while has passed she decides that she is bored of the silence :" Have you ever done the X challenge race?"

Scott laughs and nods :" Oh yeah. I was a little younger than you are and, honestly, I was an arrogant dick. I decided to win the race all by myself, but the victory doesn't count unless we cross the finish line as a group. So I got angry and went back for them but they.. they didn't want to win like that, they didn't care about winning, they cared about the team… so I learned to care about them, to look at them as my team."

He looks at Rachel meaningfully and says :" I never would have figured that those people would become my home team, the people who would always have my back no matter what."

Rachel looks away at that and then says :" I had a home team once.. No offense but _they_ are not it."

Scott nods and says :"They will never be it unless you let them." He gets up and brushes the dirt off his pants off and then walks away.

Rachel closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, willing the tears back.

When she gets back to the room, Ashley is doing sit ups, Jade is taking a nap and Quinn seems to be drawing in her notebook. Rachel takes her iPod from her bag and lies down too. She sees Quinn looking at her and she rises up her gaze to meet Quinn's, who then quickly looks away.

They've been doing that a lot this week, Rachel has yet to figure out why. Now that her bruises are healing, she looks even prettier than before and when she smiles shyly at her, she has no choice but to smile back.

* * *

The next day, everyone is up early, dressed in shorts and comfortable t-shirts and running shoes. Quinn has no idea how long she will be able to run or do any of the other things, but she is looking forward to it, she loves a challenge.. or she used to love a challenge. Now life was so much simpler, because he did the thinking for her.

Thinking about him makes her feel guilty again for not getting on that bus, she can't even explain to herself why she didn't but something was holding her back. Something that was stronger than her and maybe, just maybe, even stronger than him.

"Okay guys, listen up. The kayaking is first, since we practiced that one the most, I know you will rock it. After that is mountain biking and then you have to run through the forest and come up to the beach . I know you guys will try your best and even if you don't win I can't wait to see what funny song you will perform in karaoke." Scott explains smiling brightly.

"And maybe you can all learn something." Shelby added with a flirty smile in Scott's direction.

"What can you learn from losing?" Rachel asks, obviously not believing in the team.

"What did you ever learn from winning?" Scott replies and watches Rachel's gaze drift to the floor in front of her.

They were all quiet for a few moments and that's how Quinn didn't notice Beck until he touched her shoulder, she shrieked and stepped back, clutching her heart.

"Shit, I didn't mean to scare you." He explains and takes a step towards her but she steps back. Scott sees that and says :" Give her some personal space and don't sneak up on people man." He turns towards Quinn and asks gently :"Are you okay?"

Quinn nods but doesn't look at him.

"Okay, good luck guys."

* * *

Two hours later, Quinn regretted looking forward to this, she regretted saying yes to this and she regretted not getting on that bus. She was sweaty, dirty and just done with all of it but they are not even half way through the forest yet and she is pretty sure they are lost. The boys all lost their t-shirts somewhere along the way and Quinn wishes she was a boy for the second time in her life.

A look to her left tells her that Rachel is even more done than she is, she is holding herself up against a tree, panting heavily and clutching her heart and it seems like her water bottle was empty.

Quinn tries to stop her heavy breathing and walks over to Rachel and offers her what she had left of her water. Rachel looks up at her with a grateful smile but declines. Quinn nods and looks for the team captain Noah, who seems unable to read the map anymore.

"Give me that fucking map, you fucking loser." Beck orders and tries to rip the map out of Noah's grasp.

"Don't talk to me like that asshole." Noah answers and then pushes Beck, Quinn takes a step back even though she isn't even close to the guys.

Ashley tries to calm the situation :"Okay Beavis and Butthead, team work remember?"

"I got it, I got it. We run 200 feet ahead and go over the hill and down to the black mountain. Everyone got it?"

When he hears everyone's answer, he takes off running and everyone else follows him. Quinn runs as fast as she can but she is still behind, Jade is a few feet ahead of her and Rachel is somewhere behind her. Quinn stops in her tracks when she hears a fall and then a sharp cry.

Quinn turns around but she can't see Rachel anywhere, so she walks back a couple of steps and calls out her name.

"Fucking shit, I'm here." She hears from a little further away, when she gets there, she sees Rachel clutching her ankle.

"What happened?"

"What the fuck does it look like? I fucking twisted my ankle."

Quinn takes a step back, because of the volume of Rachel's answer and her language and swallows hard.

Rachel sees Quinn's eyes flash and feels guilty, she explains :"I'm sorry. It really hurts, Quinn."

Quinn nods and says :" I'm going to get the others so they can help you back."

"No." Rachel all but yells :"No please don't leave me here alone." Quinn hesitates but then walks closer and offers Rachel her water again, which she takes gratefully this time.

"Do you think you can stand up?" Quinn asks quietly.

"I don't know." whimpers Rachel.

Quinn puts an arm around Rachel's midsection and tries to help her up but she moans in pain and Quinn watches tears spring to her eyes, so she sets her back.

"Okay, we are going to take a break here and then I'm going to carry you on my back, for as long as I can." Rachel's mouth twitches and she realizes that she hasn't heard Quinn talk this much in the last two weeks so she gives her a bashful smile, which Quinn returns.

Quinn watches Rachel hesitate for a moment and then ask her :"Why are you always so quiet?"

Quinn's eyes shift around for a bit, trying to find a right answer to that, an answer that would make him happy but something about Rachel's kind eyes makes her want to tell the truth, so she says :" I've been taught, only to speak when I'm spoken to."

Rachel brow furrows as she narrows her eyes and asks :" Taught by whom?"

Quinn can't seem to look away from Rachel's eyes and she whispers :"By my father and .." she stops, she knows she is not allowed to talk about him.

"Quinn?" Rachel whispers, still looking at her concerned.

Quinn forces a smile and looks away, she clears her throat and then says :"We should get going." Rachel nods and gives her a small smile.

Quinn crouches down in front of Rachel and helps her climb on her back. It's not very comfortable but it will have to do, so Quinn walks slowly down the way they were supposed to run. Rachel realizes she hasn't been this close to anyone in a really long time and she fights the part of her that likes this, that wants this with someone, anyone really.

After 5 minutes, the silence becomes awkward so Rachel decides for small talk. "So where are you from Quinn?"

"Lima, Ohio, but I've been …in New York the last year."

"Oh, I'm from New York –" She trails off when she hears a crunch somewhere to their right, Quinn and her both look in that direction and then they hear it again.

"What is that?" whispers Rachel, Quinn shakes her head and walks a little faster. They walk for another 5 minutes before they hear noises again but this time it sounds like people running and they see their group running towards them.

"What the hell. You are up here cuddling, instead of helping us win?" Sean wonders loudly.

Rachel scoffs and says :"You are really as dumb as you look. I twisted my fucking ankle asshole."

"Oh shit, let me see. Ash, you should call for help." Beck says and walks closer to her while unpacking his medic kit. Quinn sets Rachel softly on a big stone and stands to her right. Beck takes out a lotion and explains :"It will make it hurt less, so bear with me."

He takes off her shoe and sock and she winces through all of it and on pure impulse grabs Quinn's hand, who is startled by that but doesn't pull away. He rubs the lotion on her ankle just as Ashley says :" They will send a car to get her as fast as they can and they said that we can keep running, it will still count, because she is hurt and otherwise the team is complete."

"Hell yeah, let's roll." Sean hollers and everyone turns to look at him. "What?"

"You think we are just going to leave her here?" Ashley asks baffled.

"What kind of team would that make us?" Noah questions looking around.

Sean whines: "Oh come on, if we win we get a free pass for the whole week man."

"You can all go, I will stay with her." Quinn says and everyone looks at her shocked, this is the loudest they ever heard her talk. Rachel bites her lip to try to contain her smile and Jade smirks at them.

Noah nods and then explains :"We are a team, so we vote. Everyone who wants to stay with Rachel, raise your hand." He watches everyone but Sean raise his hand and then says :"Well, it's settled then."

"Oh screw all of you." Sean barks and walks off the opposite site of where Rachel is sitting and sits down. Everyone else sits down around Rachel and Ashley gives her water and Jade gives Quinn water.

"I'm bored, let's play a game." Ashley declares after 10 minutes.

"What game?" asks Jade.

"How about truth or dare."

"I'm in."

"I'm so down for that."

The rest hums their agreement except for Quinn who seems reluctant but doesn't say anything.

Ashley asks first :"Sean, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"What is the most embarrassing thing you ever did?"

Sean narrows his eyes in thought for a moment and then laughs and says :" So a few years back, we were in some kind of camp with the whole school. So in the evening we were really bored and I was high on pills, so I kind of started doing impressions of my teachers, but them like moaning and saying things during sex and a friend of mine filmed that. So the next day he wasn't thinking and borrowed his phone to some girl, who then like sent herself that video and everyone saw it, even the teachers."

They all laugh and shake their head in amusement and Beck questions :" Did you get in trouble for that?:"

"No man, but my teachers didn't look me in the eye for a week." They all laugh again and when the laughter stops, Sean perks up and asks :" Rachel, truth or dare."

Rachel rolls her eyes, having seen that coming and says :"Truth."

"When is the last time you had really good sex?" He asks with a smirk.

Rachel gapes at him for a second and then shakes her head and says :" I'm not answering that."

"Oh come on, it's just a game. We will all answer questions like that." Jade explains.

Rachel frowns and then shakes her head disbelievingly again and says :"Never, okay? I'm a virgin."

Everyone's jaw hits the floor and Quinn's eyes widen comically.

"Happy now?" Rachel asks angry.

"Why are you embarrassed by that?" Quinn questions in a whisper.

Rachel turns sharply in her direction and asks :"What?"

"Do you know how many people, wish they were still virgins, that they didn't just have sex with someone who didn't matter and who didn't treat them right. It's nothing to be embarrassed about, you are only 16. You should be proud of yourself." Quinn explains, still whispering.

Now everyone is looking shocked at her and Rachel tears up a little but swallows down all the words that are stuck in her throat and decides to move this conversation away from this topic.

"Noah, truth or dare?"

"The truth, only the truth and nothing but the truth."

"Have you ever kissed a guy?"

Ashley giggles but stops when he glares at her.

"Yeah, I did. I'm a little bicurious okay? No big deal. Whatever." Noah says now glaring at the floor.

"Quinn, truth or dare?"

Quinn looks very small when she says :"Truth."

Noah ponders for a moment and then asks :" What is the weirdest thing you ever did while being naked?"

Quinn lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and then giggles at the ridiculous question.

"Painting, I would say. The walls that is, not art."

Noah smirks and nods his approval, and in that moment they hear a car coming and breathe a sigh of relief. Rachel is trying to get up as the car comes closer and feels someone step up next to her and hold her around her shoulders. She isn't even surprised when she looks up and sees that it's Quinn.

* * *

3 hours later, they are standing, with the exception of Rachel who was sitting, infront of the group that won and are preparing to sing, they don't know which song yet. Rachel is on some light pain killers and can't even pretend to be annoyed right now, mostly due to the fact that Quinn hasn't left her side since they came back from the forrest.

They all groan when they hear the intro music for "What does the fox say". They all struggle with the lyrics but when the chorus comes they all sing through their laughter but all Rachel can focus on is the melodic laughter coming from Quinn. Who catches her stare and smiles at her sweetly and Rachel? Well Rachel feels what she vaguely remembers being happy is like.


End file.
